Last month, IBM made an announcement that put an end to any hope of an open source OS/2. Responding to requests from an online community that had previously collected 11,600 signatures in support of its cause, the company confirmed that they would not be releasing the source code of their OS/2 operating system. I used OS/2 as my main operating system for about four years, and unlike some former users, my reaction to the news sits somewhere between disinterest and relief.

I keep getting perturbed when people like the author keep passing on the misinformation. Microsoft no longer owns OS/2 code. When IBM was going to go the "distribution" route Microsoft signed off on it and IBM went their separate ways. IBM does not want to open source OS/2 for a few reasons, the most important being they don't want to cannibalize themselves. They support Linux, their software stack, their support staff and I'm willing to put it that over 85% of their customers are Linux customers. Despite the fact that IBM could do a FULL SOURCE RELEASE, it would be a lot of work and IBM doesn't want to compete against itself. I wouldnt be surprised to later on see a customized version of Linux dubbed OS/2 with with either WPS ported or just a gussied up theme for GNOME. After all OS/2 is a respected brand and thats something to take advantage of.